Modern escalators and moving walkways are typically provided with glass balustrade panels which streamline and provide enhanced architectural beauty to the passenger conveyors. The glass panels are typically mounted in continuous or discontinuous metal channel supports that are secured to the conveyor truss. The supports will be provided with clamps that are tightened against the base of the glass panels. A plastic or hard paper gasket will typically be sandwiched between the clamps and the glass to protect the latter from the clamps. All of the aforesaid mounting structure is covered by the inner and outer deck panels and the escalator skirts which flank the steps or tread boards. U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,781 granted Apr. 11, 1989 to Saito, et al. is representative of the aforesaid escalator balustrade mounts of the prior art.
One problem that is exacerbated by the use of glass balustrade panels relates to operational noise of the conveyor and its transmittal to passengers on the conveyor. The moving parts of the conveyor, such as the motor, handrail, and steps are all directly or indirectly connected to the truss, as is the mounting assembly for the glass balustrade panels. The moving parts of the escalator cause the truss to vibrate and create operating noise that is transmitted through the truss and through the balustrade panel mounts to the panels. When glass panels are used, their high degree of flexibility compared to other materials makes them more prone to noise transmission whereby the passengers will be more aware of the noise generated by the escalator's operation. The plastic or hard paper gaskets which are used to protect the glass panels from the clamps do little to prevent noise from being transmitted to the glass panels. Thus the streamlined and attractive modern escalators and moving walkways tend to be noisier than their less modernistic predecessors.